Red Room Rescue
by Agent Frostbite
Summary: They rebooted the Red Room. Natasha takes it upon herself to end the program again. She won't be doing it - or coming home - alone.
1. Chapter 1

Natasha went stiff when she saw the paper. She had to reread the words a couple times before she finally comprehended what they meant. 'Red Room Active.' It was back up, training little girls to be heartless killers again. She vividly remembered her time there, and the thoughts and emotions corresponding with them raced through her.

Apprehension at going back to that godforsaken place. Fear for the lives of those little girls, 4 years old, cuffed to the beds every night. Anger at those who have done this to her, and are doing this to the girls. The rolling storm of emotions connected to the place overtook her, and since she was alone in her room, she let the emotions slide across her face. It ended with her jaw setting in determination.

She geared up, told Jarvis to send a memo to Clint detailing what was going on and informing him that if he wanted to come, he was to meet her downstairs in the garage onboard the AvenJet. She knew he would. She briskly walked down, boarded, and started it up.

* * *

Viktoriya was 4. She slept in the same type of bed as all the other girls. She had her wrist cuffed like all the other girls. She went through the same training routines as all the other girls. She was no different from the rest. Except for her dreams. She wasn't allowed to talk about them. She got in trouble last time she did. So she stayed quiet and dreamt of princesses and dragons and a loving mom and dad that she didn't have because Mister Darkov said it wasn't proper. Her training was too important. She was young, not stupid. She knew why they weren't there. She saw it. She just had no idea why they didn't want her to talk about it.

* * *

Eva was only 5. She knew how creepy the lyrics she was singing truly were. She and the other girls her age were singing "Tili Tili Bom." Of course, people creeping around outside the house, coming for anyone who wasn't sleeping didn't scare her. Maybe it never would. She was being trained not to fear anyone or anything. Besides, the older girls could do anything. They'd take care of anyone or anything that got in. They told her that. She'd seen it for herself. She didn't know what they did with the intruders; just that she never saw them again. And if they weren't around, they couldn't hurt her. She was safe.

* * *

Ekaterina kept her eyes closed. Opening them meant seeing whatever terrifying costume the assistant was wearing. Seeing the costume would very likely make her scream. Disregarding the teacher's instruction not to open their eyes would mean severe punishment, not to mention the punishment involved with showing fear so openly. Fear was not an option. Fear was the enemy. So she ignored the scratching noises, fought against the urge to move or look for the source of the moans. Most of all, she ignored the screams of the girls who failed.

* * *

Alina watched the girls in front of her step up to the platform. She watched them stand in front of the wall. She watched the trainer throw a single knife next to each girl's head. Not one dared to flinch. Then it was her turn. Back to the wall, stiff as a board, the knife raised, thrown, _thud_. It planted in the wall next to her head. Her steely gaze never left the trainer. She walked to join the other girls at the door. The next girl flinched. She was led out by the assistant. The others knew she would be in trouble, but none dared to move.


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha, Clint, Tony, and Nikki got off the QuinJet. Natasha led the way to the palace used as the training facility. The Red Room. She fought through the sick feeling, the nervousness, the fear.

The first hurdle was the wall. Clint took out one of the guards on the wall while Nikki built an ice staircase on both sides. She made it as transparent as she could to keep it hidden while Tony and Clint propped up the dead guard to make it look like he was still on duty and not, y'know, dead.

They crept in, footsteps silent. Natasha briefed them on any traps and alert systems beforehand, but still pointed them out and disabled them as they passed by. Natasha split off to take out as many trainers as she could. Clint went after sentries and security systems. Tony disabled as much tech as he could. Nikki went to rescue the children.

* * *

Natasha slunk into the room of the first one. She didn't care about names. She stood in the doorway, pulled her knife, and threw it. It stuck in the side of his head. She carefully approached - there were all kinds of tricks the trainers used to keep from getting killed by their students - and pulled the knife out. She then cut his neck to make sure. He'd be dead before anyone found him.

She slunk back out to do the next one.

* * *

Clint easily and quietly took out each sentry with the precision and aim that only came from years of archery. He was impressed but not surprised that they had security in the rafters, and took all of it out with relative ease. From there, he picked off sentries and guards as they passed, and navigated the whole place without his feet ever touching the ground.

* * *

Tony found that their computer systems ranged from ancient to cutting-edge. He guessed it was so the girls could learn how to hack into each - not that it made a difference, but whatever. Only two were connected in any way to security, and thanks to Jarvis, he'd been able to find and disable them. The hard part was holding the room down while they got in and out.

* * *

Nikki crept to the rooms with the girls. She didn't even know where to start. How could she wake one up without waking the others? Who would rat her out and who wouldn't? How was she supposed to save girls who didn't think they needed to be saved?

A whispered "Psst!" caught her attention. She turned around, not recognizing the voice. As she turned, she sensed another Elemental - had to be the one calling her. She saw a girl with summer blonde hair, bright, inquisitive dark blue eyes, and fair skin splotched with small bruises and cuts. "I knew it! C'mere."

Nikki obeyed, walking over to the girl and her hiding spot. "You here to rescue us?" the girl asked. She wasn't like what Nikki thought they'd be like. Then again, she suspected those bruises were from punishment, not fights. Or maybe both. Nikki nodded decisively, and the girl broke into a wide grin. "Finally. Thought I was gonna have to do it all myself. Name's Ekaterina. You're Frostbite, right?"

"Yeah. You were gonna try to sneak out tonight?" Nikki asked. "There's a snowstorm coming in soon; you'd freeze."

"Well, if I were normal, sure. But I'm like you. I control snow. I'm planning on using the storm to hide my departure. By the time anyone sees me, I'll be long gone. Don't know what the next step is, but long as I'm out of this forsaken place, I'll be happy. Guess I don't need that plan now," she explained. "Guard!" she hissed. She and Nikki hid behind the cover as the guard passed.

"Can you take me to the other girls who'd want to escape?" Nikki asked. Ekaterina nodded swiftly and stood after checking the hallway. Nikki followed the girl to a room with a bunch of 4 year old girls. They were cuffed to the bed by one wrist. It sickened Nikki, but she ignored the feeling. Ekaterina nudged one of the girls, a small one with mousy brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. She looked up at Ekaterina sleepily as the older girl uncuffed her.

"My dolzhny idti," Ekaterina whispered. The little girl nodded and sat up. Ekaterina pressed a finger to her own lips, and the girl copied the gesture. She saw Nikki and waved. Nikki smiled and waved back. Ekaterina went through the room, carefully selecting the girls she wanted to wake. She told each the same message, and once she got through the whole room, she gestured for the girls to follow her.

Nikki stayed at the back of the group, the receiver of several curious glances from the still sleepy girls. Ekaterina spoke as loudly as she dared. "My sobirayemsya uyti. Vy khotite priyekhat'?" The girls all nodded, and replied with 'Da. "Podpisyvaytes' na menya," Ekaterina said. The girls lined up in pairs - 13 total, and Ekaterina looked at Nikki. "Where's your ship?"

"Outside the walls, south courtyard," she answered. Ekaterina frowned for a moment, then her expression brightened.

"So we hide in the front hallway. You took out the guards there, right?" Nikki nodded. Ekaterina dutifully led the group to the front hallway. Once there, she knelt down to the oldest looking girl in the group. "Vy otvechayete za ubedivshis', chto vse zdes', kodga my vernemsya. Khorosho?" The girl nodded, and Ekaterina stood and walked to Nikki. "Follow me." So Nikki did.

This was the procedure for the next 5 rooms they went in. The number of girls gathered was smaller each time. When it was over, there were 13 four year olds, 8 five year olds, 4 six year olds, 4 seven year olds, and 2 eight year olds. 31 total. Everyone else older, Ekaterina either didn't know or didn't think would come. Regardless, they planned one more sweep. Well, planned.

Then Tony came skittering around the corner just as the alarm started to go off. "We gotta go." He looked at the large group of wide-eyed girls. "Okay. Let's go. Hawkeye is on his way; he's collecting Tash." Tony went first, and Ekaterina followed him. The group of girls came next, and Nikki and the little girl Ekaterina first woke up took up the rear.

They didn't notice the shadow follow them.

 **A/N: So, I did the Russian by English pronunciation/spelling/whatever it's actually called cause I don't know. If you guys want to look it up, you can run it through Google Translate. It** ** _should_** **come exactly as I wrote it, since I ran it through twice to make sure.**


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha's assassination plan went awry when she ran into the current teacher for the 15 year old girls, Madame B. She put up a fight long enough for the next shining star of the program to show. Yelena Belova. Madame B ordered her to "Kill the traitor" before melting back into the shadows to watch.

Yelena made up for whatever miniscule lack of skill she had compared to Nat with speed. She was as fast and deadly as Natasha, and the Avenger had an extremely hard time taking her out. She matched move for move. It was a standstill. Damn it.

The call came through the comms that it was time to go. Natasha growled but offered no response as she dodged another blow. "The Americans have made you soft," Yelena taunted. "Once you could have defeated me in minutes. Now, here we are 10 minutes in, and you have no advantage. You are weak. An embarrassment to Mother Russia."

"You talk too much," Natasha quipped as she performed a spinning kick that connected with the side of Yelena's face. The blonde haired assassin was sent reeling, but retaliated with her own kick as she went down. Natasha dodged it and had to make a choice: Kill Yelena and risk Madame B killing her, kill Madame B and risk Yelena killing her, or run and save herself, leaving both.

"Nat, ya hear me? We gotta jet!" Clint shouted over the comm. Natasha swore under her breath and jumped out the window, leaving both women behind.

* * *

Natasha met up with the others at the QuinJet. The girls watched her with wide eyes as she walked past. They boarded quickly and took off, and only after this did Natasha acknowledge the 11 year old in the back corner. "I guess the others don't know you're there?" They all looked at the quiet girl.

"No. I thought they wouldn't let me come," she replied.

"Of course we'd have let you come, and we're gonna let you stay. What's your name?" Nikki asked.

"Alina," she replied.

"I'm Ekaterina," the energetic girl said. "I think you were in the level above me."

Natasha noticed one of the younger girls next to her. The girl, with her innocent chocolate eyes, gazed up at Natasha. She held her arms up, and Nat picked her up. Her little arms locked around Nat's neck, and the girl relaxed. Natasha smiled fondly, and took a seat in the back. She hummed lullabies to the little girl till the girl fell asleep.

Nobody said anything.


	4. Chapter 4

32 kids were saved from the Room. Of those, four planned on staying at the Tower permanently. Viktoriya, Eva, Ekaterina, and Alina.

Viktoriya was small. She was the one who Nat had sung to sleep. She clung to Natasha, and Natasha took to the girl quickly. Viktoriya didn't wander far from the red haired Avenger. She also took to Clint, though not as quickly. It became common to see Natasha either carrying her around, or the little girl trailing behind her.

Eva was young and shy. She did know how to fight, but the full horrors of the Red Room hadn't fallen on her yet. Her eyes were still bright, and she spoke broken English. Jan was instantly taken with the 5 year old, and Eva felt safe with her. She clung to Jan when Jan held her. She also seemed to trust Hank, and that might've been because of how she saw them interact. They were like parents to the girl.

Ekaterina was a whirlwind of a girl. 10 and bright as ever. She was endlessly inquisitive, always looking for answers to things she didn't understand. She was amazing at handling technology and mechanics, and thus gravitated toward Tony. The billionaire didn't even try to close himself off, and seemed to be one of the few who could keep up with her quick mind. It wasn't long before Pepper was constantly checking on the both of them and finding them slumped over a table and blueprints, fast asleep.

Alina was much older in mind, heart, and soul. The Red Room hit the 11 year old hard, and she tried to be responsible and earn her keep. Clint saw himself in the girl and was determined to get her to open up. And she did. At first, it was only around the other girls. Then it was around Clint. Then Natasha and Clint. Soon, it was a small circle of friends, and - dare she say it - family.

It was something she did only once or twice every few months and never in front of anyone but Clint. Missions were an exception, but she hadn't danced on a mission in a long time - ballet dancing, that is. It was the first kind she knew how to do and the kind that brought up awful, terrifying, sickening memories but made her happy at the same time.

Little Eva was only 5 years old, and the majority of the girls rescued were 7 or younger. They hadn't yet been forced to repeat the same moves over and over till their feet were sore and about to break, till their legs burned and ached with a ferocity that they weren't used to, till all they could think to do with themselves was repeat the moves, even in their sleep.

They hadn't yet been forced to dance with knives, arms outstretched and fingers locked around a 2 inch long blade in each hand, forbidden to flinch when one of the dance moves brought the knife close to their faces, necks, torsos, and abdomens, cautious not to alter the dance in any way.

Black Widows were to show no fear.

This was one of the extremely few mantras or psychological lessons that Natasha hung onto since her escape. Little Eva, wide-eyed and awed about meeting the Black Widow - the woman her trainers wanted her to grow up to be just as skilled as - didn't know that her question had triggered a slight flashback in Natasha's mind. But Natasha refused to give in to the fear. She used to enjoy ballet dancing, and if the girls wanted to see her dance, then she'd dance.

She asked Jarvis to play the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy," and began to dance. The moves were no more than muscle memory, yet they were extremely liberating. She cleared her mind and just moved with the music. The dance moves flowed, one into the other. Years of practice, both in and outside the Red Room, allowed her to perform the dance with no mistakes. The music ended, and she stopped.

The girls - all of whom were still at the Tower temporarily while Coulson found them homes - clapped and cheered, grinning and talking to the others. Natasha was smiling as well, because for a moment, she was just dancing for some eager young girls. For a moment, she wasn't a Black Widow.

They weren't assassins or assassins-in-training. They were survivors.


End file.
